Originally Posted By skinnerbox Sometimes the stupid people in your own party are beyond embarrassing: <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/01/kentucky-gay-marriage_n_6984678.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...678.html</a> <> Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear's (D) administration is arguing the state's ban on same-sex marriage isn't discriminatory because it applies to straight people, too. "Kentucky’s marriage laws treat homosexuals and heterosexuals the same and are facially neutral. Men and women, whether heterosexual or homosexual, are free to marry persons of the opposite sex under Kentucky law, and men and women, whether heterosexual or homosexual, cannot marry persons of the same sex under Kentucky law," Beshear said in a brief filed with the Supreme Court on March 27. In the brief, Beshear also argues "there is no fundamental right to same-sex marriage." The Courier-Journal reports Dan Canon, the lawyer representing the six couples challenging Kentucky's gay marriage ban, called Beshear's argument "especially absurd." "Kentucky is in essence saying that our clients are precluded from marriage entirely, unless they change their sexual orientation (or simply marry someone to whom they are not attracted)," Canon told the Courier-Journal in an email. "It's akin to passing a law banning all Catholic churches within city limits, and then saying it's not discriminatory because you can still go to a Baptist church." The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on April 28 on states' rights to ban same-sex marriage, with arguments being presented on current bans in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee. The court will give a ruling on the case this summer. In March 2015, lawyers from the Justice Department filed a brief urging the Supreme Court to rule states' same-sex marriage bans unconstitutional. Hundreds of companies have also urged the nation's highest court to side with same-sex marriage advocates. In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled the federal ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. <> Maybe it's something in the water. Oy vey.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 The silver lining to this is that KY is one of the states involved in the SCOTUS case coming up on same-sex marriage. And they have put this ridiculous argument in a brief filed with the court. The fact that it's so patently stupid can be a help - if this is the best they can come up with, Roberts might actually make this a 6-3 decision. It also helps that the equivalent argument (that everyone now agrees is absurd but was taken quite seriously by many at the time) was argued in Loving v. Virginia in 1967, i.e. no one was being discriminated against (they said), because blacks and whites were perfectly free to get married in VA - just not to each other. And because blacks couldn't marry whites AND whites couldn't marry blacks, everything was ducky and equal! Of course, this argument didn't hold, and Loving overturned bans on interracial marriage in the 16 states that still had them. If this is the best they can come up with, it would be a shock if Obergefell doesn't overturn same-sex marriage bans in the 13 states that still have them.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer You'd think that the state would be a little more embracing of a lifestyle that uses a lot of Kentucky Jelly.
